OPINION
Gov. Mikie Sherrill has until early November to name New Jersey’s next lieutenant governor. Since the appointment does not need the Legislature’s approval, the choice is hers alone. She has said she wants someone with a long record of serving the public good.
Dr. Patricia Campos-Medina fits that description, and Sherrill should strongly consider her.
The seat opened when Dale Caldwell resigned last month after an independent investigation found sexual harassment and ethics violations. Sherrill, to her credit, demanded his resignation as soon as the report came out. Until the seat is filled, Senate President Nicholas Scutari steps in as acting governor whenever she leaves the state. Whoever comes next will be judged on trust as much as talent.
Dr. Campos-Medina has spent decades earning trust in the communities a lieutenant governor is supposed to serve.
Those communities include New Jersey’s Latino voters, who have swung hard in both directions. In 2024, Donald Trump carried Passaic County, the first Republican presidential candidate to win it in more than three decades. One year later, about two in three Latino voters backed Sherrill.
Dr. Campos-Medina helped build that comeback as a vice chair of Sherrill’s campaign. She pushed a message about utility bills, rising rents, and support for small businesses. She also said publicly that Democrats had taken Latino voters for granted in 2024 and needed to talk about the economy first.
Those issues hit home for the one in four New Jerseyans who are Latino. In cities like Paterson, Passaic, and Union City, working families are stretching paychecks to cover rent and power bills. Many are also living with fear. Local organizers told NorthJersey.com that images of parents taken into custody by immigration agents at school pickup moved voters last fall. These families need someone near the top of state government who understands both worries.
Dr. Campos-Medina understands them because she lived them.
She came to the United States from El Salvador at 14. By then she had spent about a decade apart from her parents, who left one after the other during the civil war there. Her parents worked low-wage jobs in hotels and restaurants. She went on to earn degrees from Cornell and a doctorate from Rutgers.
Today she leads the Worker Institute at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She is also president of Latina Civic Action, which helps Latinas run for office.
A lieutenant governor also serves the New Jerseyans who voted for the other side. Dr. Campos-Medina is a progressive, but she lives in Republican-leaning Hunterdon County and has worked alongside moderates for years. Leaders of both parties have trusted her judgment. She advised the U.S. trade office on labor issues during the Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations. She later served on President Obama’s transition team for that office.
In New Jersey, two governors have tapped her to help grow the economy. Gov. Jon Corzine appointed her to two state economic boards, including the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. Gov. Phil Murphy named her to his council on reopening the economy after the pandemic. During the campaign, she convened meetings with business leaders as part of the outreach to Latino communities. She knows what workers face, and she knows what business owners face. A lieutenant governor needs both perspectives.
Her appointment would also make history. Latinos already serve New Jersey as mayors, legislators, and members of Congress. No Latino has ever served as New Jersey’s governor or lieutenant governor, even though more than two million Latinos live here. Sherrill and Dr. Campos-Medina would be the first two women to hold the state’s top two offices at the same time. Every girl in New Jersey, including my own daughter and the daughters of immigrants, would see that the top of state government is within reach.
Sherrill has said she will take care with this choice, and she should. The next lieutenant governor will need to restore trust, understand working families, and earn respect from voters across the political spectrum. Dr. Campos-Medina is ready to do all three. Sherrill has the power to make this appointment, and New Jersey would be better for it.
Brian Varela is the son of Colombian immigrants, a New Jersey childcare provider, and a former Democratic candidate for Congress in the Seventh District. Rafael Collazo is the Executive Director of the UnidosUS Action Fund, a non-profit advocating for Latino political power.